LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK mortgage approvals rose to a two-year high in July and mortgage lending grew the most in more than three years, figures from the Bank of England showed Friday.
The number of mortgages approved in July rose to 67,306 from 66,506 in June. This was the highest since July 2017 and above the forecast of 66,100.
Mortgage lending rose to GBP 4.6 billion in July. While this was the strongest since March 2016, it reflected a fall in repayments rather than an increase in new lending, BoE said.
The extra amount borrowed by consumers in order to buy goods and services was GBP 0.9 billion in July. The annual growth rate was stable at 5.5 percent.
Further, data showed that annual growth in bank lending to UK business eased to 3 percent in July from 4.4 percent in June.
The monetary aggregate M4 grew 2.7 percent on year versus 2.3 percent in June. On a monthly basis, M4 gained 0.7 percent after staying flat a month ago.
Data from the Nationwide Building Society, released earlier Friday, showed that house price growth accelerated in August but the pace of increase remained subdued.
House prices increased 0.6 percent year-on-year in August, following a 0.3 percent rise in July. Nonetheless, this was slightly slower than the expected 0.7 percent increase and the rate was below 1 percent for the ninth straight month.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said housing market trends will remain heavily dependent on developments in the broader economy.
According to UK Finance, mortgage approvals rose to its highest level in two-and-a-half years in July. Approvals by high street banks rose 10.6 percent year-on-year to a seasonally adjusted 43,342.
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